J_P_P, how long have you had the Marantz, and what are thoughts on it so far?

I have since last August 2014... sounds nice, smooth and laid back, not forward sounding at all, bass could have more depth maybe, and High Frequencies are smooth.

In fact that's why i want to upgrade...i had an Pionner AVR wich was more forward sounding, and it worked very nice with the Marantz.

I now have a Arcam 750, and i actually prefer using the AVR's DAC, sounds less "remote" and polite...with the Marantz DAC connected via analog, i sense that for Rock for example it lacks a bit attack and everyting remains too atmospheric, but it still is very nice with Vocals, Acustic, Jazz and such music.

That's why i am interessed in the Audiolab 8200cd / Cambridge Audio 851c...they have digital filters that allow sublte chenges to sound...maybe it would be a nice feature to use, according to the different music we are listening

Sorry to disagree with some here BUT like anything else 99% of the time you get what you pay for i have been a one box cd player user since 1983 i have owned more than 10 different makes and models most of them over 3k i also owned the Oppo BDP-105 as backup very very good $1,200.00 unit BUT it is not my Chord One.

2nd Hand gear:
I have a Marantz SR6007 which I purchased as an ex demo from my local shop in Singapore
I bought an Arcam irDAC off Gumtree still new in box - An unwanted raffle prize
I bought a Samsung F8500 65" Plasma as demo from a department store

Try as I might I basically cannot tell the difference between all 3 options (except there seems to be more depth to Option 3 when using 2.1 config due to AVR when I switch the Sub on)
So I got a friend over to listen to the same material in each option (No hint to him about what each option was which) - Same reaction - Can't tell any difference

TBH - I was a bit surprised by this but looking through this thread, the result seems actually to make sense from a source point of view - If we take that the FLAC files at 16 bit/44.1 kHz are identical to CD and the differences in DAC's would be unidentifiable, using the same speakers...well
I would have originally imagined the amplifier (Cyrus 3 vs Marantz SR6007) would have changed the sound so I can't really explain that

Maybe I have come to realise that besides psychological effects, spending heaps of money upgrading my Cyrus 3 and getting a CD player will be a waste of money especially in my own home environment and not a staged audio room in a shop
Psychological effects might be all well and fine but they don't seem to work on me either :-)

Sorry to disagree with some here BUT like anything else 99% of the time you get what you pay for i have been a one box cd player user since 1983 i have owned more than 10 different makes and models most of them over 3k i also owned the Oppo BDP-105 as backup very very good $1,200.00 unit BUT it is not my Chord One.

R.I.P. Andre

* Andre (MrAcoustat) passed away shortly after that quote above; he was a great man with a great taste in music. ...He'll be missed dearly.
That was his last ever post here @ AVSForum. Live and let live.